How to Prep Kids for their First Flight

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Debbie Dubrow offers tips for preparing kids for their first flight, including activities to do in the air and other ways to make flying with kids easier.

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Taking kids on their first flight can seem daunting—and if it’s daunting for you, imagine how unsettling it must be for them. Here are some tips to help everyone get comfortable before you head to the airport for that first takeoff.

Talk about your trip and your flight ahead of time, focusing on the aspects that are new to your child or might cause them some concern.

Read stories about flying or about going on a trip. My favorite choice for toddlers is Airplanes by Byron Barton, and older kids will enjoy the detail in Richard Scarry's A Day at the Airport. If you’re headed to a new destination, make a trip to the library to pick up a few books set in that place.

Line up some dining chairs to make airplane seats, and act out how you should sit down and buckle up on a plane. Build a security checkpoint using a doorway as the metal detector and a cardboard box and towel as the conveyor belt and X-ray. Practice putting your child’s lovey or blanket through the x-ray and getting it back on the other side.

Let your children help pack their busy bags (but secret away a few new toys in your own bag). That way they’ll get to choose which items they just can’t live without, and you’ll get to set expectations about which toys are ok on the plane (leave the harmonica at home, please!).